Many surgical procedures require dedicated and specialized training that is commonly acquired during a fellowship. Researchers examined the relationship between surgeons' fellowship participation and early postoperative outcomes.
The study was published in the journal Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases and focuses on bariatric surgery. The researchers identified 10,838 obese patients who had undergone primary laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy between 2010 and 2012. They then compared the results of the patient outcomes based on whether the surgeon was a fellow or not.
The study revealed surgical fellows participated in more high-risk surgeries with increased operative times than nonfellows. That said, surgeries performed by fellows were associated with higher rates of complications and reoperation for both LRYGB and LSG procedures.
Despite dealing with more complicated and risky cases, postoperative adverse events and mortality rates were comparable between fellows and nonfellows.
"Promoting proficiency in surgical simulation laboratories and a gradual participation of fellows from LSG to LRYGB during fellowship may be associated with a reduction in postoperative complications," concluded the study authors.